


Can't Explain

by Wind-At-Her-Heels (Countess_Eliza)



Series: Newsies Single Parents AU [2]
Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Single Parents, Angsty Jack Kelly, Family Drama, Family Secrets, Gen, Jack and Race are brothers, One Shot, Original Jack Kelly/Katherine Plumber Pulitzer Child(ren), Parent Jack Kelly, Secrets, child characters, i have no idea how to tag this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:08:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24714358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Countess_Eliza/pseuds/Wind-At-Her-Heels
Summary: Race and Jack kept very few secrets between them. It usually didn't matter. But this one . . . this one was much different.
Relationships: Jack Kelly & Original Character(s), Racetrack Higgins & Jack Kelly, Racetrack Higgins & Original Character(s)
Series: Newsies Single Parents AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1786870
Comments: 4
Kudos: 5





	Can't Explain

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this a long time ago, but just haven't posted it. This is kind of in the same universe of another one shot of mine, "Something Gained". But you don't need to read that one to understand this.

Every time Race visited the Kellys, Jack couldn’t ignore how stressed he seemed to be. Especially more recently. The lines under his eyes had lines. Sure, he lead a stressful lifestyle, but this was making Hack concerned. 

So that was why, when Race announced that he would be swinging by in a couple of hours, Jack got busy. 

He convinced Eloise to draw instead of parking herself in front of the TV. Jack went on a cleaning spree. He scrubbed paint off of the table, wiped off the counters, and picked up the toys scattered in the hallway. Then began baking. 

It took him back to the old times a bit. When he and Kath used to bake. Either out of stress or for fun. Jack smiled at the memory. 

Within the next two hours, the house was pretty much clean (there was only so much you could do when you had a four-year-old) and cookies were cooling on the counter. Jack stood back, admiring his hard work. He was ready to talk to Race. 

The doorbell rang. Eloise sat up from her painting and ran to the door. 

“Uncle Race!” she shrieked. 

“Wait before opening the door, Lol’!” Jack called after her. 

“But Uncle Race is here!” 

Jack couldn’t help his smile at the way she said, “Uncle Race”. Eloise couldn’t quite pronounce her “R”s or “L”s yet. He found it adorable. Crutchie wasn’t able to do the same at her age. 

“Hold on a second, Kiddie!”

He rushed to the door. Eloise was scowling. Jack rolled his eyes and gave her permission to answer it. After checking that it was actually Race, of course. 

“Hiya, munchkin,” Race greeted, “Oh, yeah. Hi to you, too, Jackie.” 

“Funny. Come on in.” 

Race tucked his hands into his pockets as he stepped inside the apartment. Eloise wrapped her arms around his legs once inside the kitchen. 

“Treat?” Eloise begged. 

“El, we don’t ask for treats from Uncle Race until after we talk to him,” Jack said. 

“Thanks, Jack. Now she’s gonna expect something from me every time.” 

“I wouldn’t mind something myself, if I’m being honest. You don’t just have to spoil her.” 

“Fantastic.” 

They settled themselves in the kitchen. Eloise in Race’s lap. Jack bought the cookies out and told her that she could have one. After finishing her treat, Jack turned a show on for her in the other room. Hopefully that would distract her while he had a heart-to-heart with his brother. 

“Anthony, we need to talk,” Jack blurted out. 

Race shifted in his seat. “Why? Is it about that baseball that went missing when I was nine? ‘Cause I assure you-”

“Something’s up. I wanna know what it is.” 

“Why would you think that?” He chuckled, uncomfortably.

Jack just stared at him. A trick that he’d learned from Katherine. If you remain silent after asking a question, your interviewee’s more likely to expand. Race only cleared his throat. 

“There’s been some drama with the cast right now. Christy’s been missing home a lot lately. She’s threatening to quite so she can go back to Sydney,” Race said, “Nobody’s happy ‘bout that. Connor’s been real moody since. And you can’t have  _ West Side Story _ without Maria. I’m stressed ‘cause I don’t wanna have to go through rehearsals again and all that stuff.” 

His phone buzzed, then. When Race looked at the number, his eyes widened. His finger hovered over the answer button. 

“I gotta take this, Jackie,” he whispered, throat dry. Race answered it. “Hello? Bethany? Did we win?” 

Bethany? Like, the member of WSS’s ensemble? That Bethany? And what had they won? 

Race wandered into another room for privacy. Leaving Jack behind with his thoughts. Christy’s threatening to leave definitely wasn't picking at him. He knew Race well enough that it wouldn’t be bothering him that much. 

Eloise ran into the room, her face glowing. “Daddy! Daddy! Varian’s sad.” She pulled at his hand, forcing Jack to get up and join her in the living room. 

After a few minutes of watching, “Tangled: The Series”, Race popped in with a wide smile on his face. 

“What was all that about, Racer?” Jack questioned. 

“Don’t worry about it.” He dug something out of his pocket, taking out a Snickers bar. “I have something for you. I did promise you a treat, munchkin.” 

Eloise grabbed the candy and began to peak the wrapper open. Jack stopped her before she ate the whole thing. Race grabbed his jacket. 

“Sorry, Jack, I gotta go,” Race said, “Thanks for the cookies!” 

With that, he took off. And Jack still didn’t know what was going on. 




A week went by without hearing from Race. Then two. Then three. 

Jack was beginning to get worried. Sure, Race was bound to get busy, but he never just ignored his family like this. Even after texting Medda and Crutchie, he knew nothing. Medda was especially worried. The last time Race ignored his family like this hadn’t been pleasant. The police told them that there was nothing they could do. 

Finally after calling and worrying for ages, Jack received a text from Race: 

_ Coming. Five min. Prepare 4 a surprise. _

Not another infamous Anthony Higgins surprise. Jack didn’t have time for that now. This comic was due in four days, but family came first. Race wouldn’t mind a messy apartment, right? Jack didn’t have time to clean today. Or yesterday. 

Eloise was in her room. Quieter than usual. In one hand she held a pen. In the other was one of her Barbies. Was that Aurora? Jack didn’t have time to think. He had seen this before. 

“Lolly, let’s not draw on our dolls, okay?” He came into the room. 

Aurora hadn’t been saved in time. A new lopsided heart was in her face that hadn’t been yesterday. Jack sighed. Oh well. They were her Barbies. 

Eloise set her own down. “Sleeping beauty is very pretty now.” 

“She really is. Uncle Race is coming over. Come on.” 

“Uncle Race?” Eloise exclaimed. She jumped up and set Aurora softly on the bed. 

Jack followed her to the TV room, where he got her entertained with a puzzle. He began pacing the room. Race’s excuse better be good. 

The doorbell rang. Again and again. Okay, Race was either in some legal trouble or he was about to burst from excitement. Maybe even both. Jack opened the door. 

“Anthony Edward Higgins, you’d better have a good explanation for not answering my calls, you dic-”

He looked down. 

Right into the eyes of a young boy. 

He was about four. His eyes were a familiar sky-blue. Little freckles decorated his face. Reminding Jack if someone he knew. 

“-tator,” Jack finished, “Racer, what is this?” 

“Told you that I was bringing over a surprise. Hate to break a promise, Jackie. This is a  _ kid _ . You know what that is. You’se even got one of your own.” Race and the kid stepped inside. “Jack this is Liam. Liam, this is your Uncle Jackie.” 

Liam only blinked up at him. Jack smiled, still unsure about how he felt. He took the two to the kitchen where Eloise was still busy doing her puzzle. She didn’t even look up when they entered the room. 

“Hiya, munchkin,” Race said his familiar greeting. 

Eloise grinned and looked up. She paused when she saw Liam. 

“Who is that?” she asked, pointing to him. 

“Liam,” Race answered. 

Jack led the kids into the living room. He turned on Lion King, because most (if not all) kids loved that movie. Liam didn’t talk at all. But when Jack spoke to him or Eloise. Jack closed the kitchen door behind him.

“What’s going on, Anthony?” he demanded, after joining him at the counter. 

“You know,” Race replied, “The stuff.” 

“Why did you bring a mute kid to my apartment?” 

“Liam’s not mute.” 

Jack threw his hands in the air. “Why did you bring a kid over here?” 

Race sat on a stool. He dug his face into his hands. “Four-five years ago, I met this girl at a bar. Her name was Samantha. We were drunk. I was probably high. We went over to my place and had sex.” He paused. “About four months ago, I found out that she died. Turns out that she’d been apart of a couple of gangs and they caught up to her. 

“At first, I was confused. I mean, why would they tell  _ me _ ? But then I found out that she had a son. Who was also  _ my  _ son. There was a whole lotta stuff that had to happen. Grandparents wanted custody, but they couldn’t afford it. Blah. Blah. Blah. The point is: Liam’s my son.” 

Jack just stared at his brother for a long minute. He released a deep breath. Race had a son. The cocky, sarcastic, irresponsible Race. The Race that could barely keep himself alive. Nevertheless a (probably) traumatized four-year-old. 

“Okay,” he began, “So you brought him over here? Without giving me a warning?” 

“I did give you a warning.” 

“Just telling me that you have a surprise does not count for taking the kid that you never knew you had over here!” Jack slapped his hand on the counter. “You had a kid and you didn’t even tell me?” Now he was yelling. “You’ve known for months! And you still didn’t tell me? You ignored my texts and calls. You could’ve at least made up an excuse. I was so scared, Anthony! You need to tell someone these things!” 

“Well, consider this,  _ Cowboy _ , just maybe I was terrified of becoming a parent. Maybe I didn’t think that I would even get the rights. And just maybe I was terrified of becoming our mother!” 

Eloise slipped into the kitchen. Jack closed his mouth. Race glared as he bent down to see what she wanted. 

“Can we have popcorn?” she politely requested, “Liam said it was his favorite.” 

“Not right now, princess. Uncle Race and Liam need to leave.” 

She stuck her bottom lip out. “Aww! We didn’t finish!” 

“Sorry, baby.” 

Race got Liam from the other room. He made sure that he was doing alright. Jack noted (even though he was still fuming) how gentle he was being. 

Then Race slammed the door behind him. 




In the end, it was Medda who forced the brothers to apologize. 

Jack told her what happened. He had to, as her son. She gave them a few days to blow it off before calling him. 

“He-” Jack began. 

“Apologize to your brother,” Medda interrupted, “You got your time to be mad at each other. Now apologize. I’m not letting a stupid argument ruin your relationship.” 

She couldn’t see it, but Jack rolled his eyes. 

“Don’t roll your eyes at me, young man.” 

“Wha. . . ?” 

“I’m your mother. Now  _ apologize _ .” 

“Fine. Can you hand the phone over to Eloise for a second?” 

After talking to his daughter for a few minutes, he hung up. He had a meeting in three minutes. There wasn’t time to call and apologize to Race. He could do that. . . later. 

Once the meeting was over, he had his lunch break. Jack figured that Race wouldn’t apriciate it if he apologized between bites of sandwich. After lunch, he worked for a solid three hours. Pulitzer would be mad if he found him on the phone, having a heart-to-heart with his brother. 

Jack picked Eloise up from preschool at four. They ended up playing “The Floor is Lava” up until dinner. Then she did the coloring sheets her teacher sent home.

Jack didn’t end up calling Race until long after Eloise had been tucked in. It was nearly eleven. Hopefully, he wouldn’t mind too much. 

Race answered on the fourth ring. “Hello?” 

“Hey, Racer. I, uh, wanted to apologize for what I said a few days back. I really shouldn’t have. So, sorry. Yeah.”

There was a pause. “Medda put you up to this, didn’t she?”

Jack laughed. “Well, you know Medda.” 

“I’m sorry too, Jackie. It’s just-” he sighed, “-Liam’s got me worried. He hasn’t really talked to anybody since his mom. Not his teachers or grandparents. But he talks to me. And Eloise, apparently. Something’s wrong.”

“Hey, I’m here to help with anything you need. I can talk to my therapist and see if she knows anyone who can help. I’m always gonna be here for you.” 

“Thanks, Jackie.

**Author's Note:**

> I have a few super subtle MCU references that no one will probably get. I just heard the character's saying those things inside my head.
> 
> Also in this universe: Jack, Race and Crutchie have the same mother, making them brothers. Jack and Crutchie are biologically related (I'm sure there's a better word for it). Race has a different father. He wanted to find him at one point and changed his last name to Higgins which was his real father's last name. His dad rejects him, but he keeps the name for legal reasons.
> 
> Anyways, hope you enjoyed! I love reviews.


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